Enhancing microbial activity and electrocatalysis through new anode material design is essential for developing microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with longer lifetimes and higher output. In this research, a novel anode material, graphene/Fe3O4 (G/Fe3O4) composite, has been designed for Shewanella-inoculated MFCs. Because Shewanella species could bind to Fe3O4 with high affinity and their growth could be well supported by Fe3O4, the bacterial cells attached quickly onto the anode surface, and their long-term activity improved...

We report a one-pot and eco-friendly synthesis of carbon supported cobalt nanoparticles, achieved by carbonization of waste biomass (rice bran) with a cobalt source. The functionalized biomass provides carbon microspheres as excellent catalyst support, forming a unique interface between hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups. The latter, involving hydroxyl and amino groups, can catch much more active cobalt nanoparticles on surface for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis than chemical carbon. The loading amount of cobalt on the final catalyst is much higher than that prepared with a chemical carbon source, like glucose...

A rhodium-catalyzed regioselective C-H olefination of (1H)-indazole is described. This protocol relies on the use of an efficient and removable N,N-diisopropylcarbamoyl directing group, which offers a facile access to C-7 olefinated (1H)-indazole with high site selectivity, ample substrate scope and broad functional group tolerance.

Dendritic platinum nanoparticles (DPNs) have been synthesized from l-ascorbic acid and an amphiphilic non-ionic surfactant (Brij-58) via a sonochemical method. The particle size and shape of the DPNs could be tuned by changing the reduction temperature, resulting in a uniform DPN with a size of 23 nm or 60 nm. The facets of DPNs have been studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The cytotoxicity of DPNs has been investigated using human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293), and the biological adaptability exhibited by DPNs has opened a pathway to biomedical applications such as drug-delivery systems, photothermal treatment, and biosensors...

Amyloid β-peptides (Aβ) fibrillation is a major hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Inhibition of Aβ fibrillation is thus considered as an effective strategy for AD prevention and treatment. Here we show that para-sulfonato-calix[n]arenes (SC[n]A, n=4, 6, 8), a class of amphiphilic calixarene derivatives, can bind to Aβ42 through nonspecific and multipoint hydrophobic interactions. Their binding leads to a pronounced delay in β-sheet adoption and formation of multiple secondary structures of the peptide, accompanied by changes at the level of the fibrillary architecture...

Two new non-centrosymmetric polar quaternary selenides, namely, RbZn4In5Se12 and CsZn4In5Se12, have been synthesized and structurally characterized. They exhibit 3D diamond-like framework (DLF) consisting of corner shared MSe4 (M = Zn/In) tetrahedra, in which the A+ ions are located. Both compounds are thermally stable up to 1300 K and exhibit large transmittance in the infrared region (0.65-25 μm) with measured optical band gaps of 2.06 eV for RbZn4In5Se12 and 2.11 eV for CsZn4In5Se12. Inspiringly, they exhibit good balance between strong second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency (3...

Empirical searching conditions were adopted to identify suitable candidates from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) for crystalline sponge hosts for X-ray crystallographic analysis of incoming guest compounds. After optimization of the solvent and soaking conditions, one of the candidates was used as a crystalline sponge for the structure determination of an aromatic guest.

The self-host thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials have recently been identified as the effective emitters for solution-processed nondoped OLEDs. However, except for carbazole unit, few novel dendrons were developed to build the self-host TADF emitters. This study reports two self-host blue materials, tbCz-SO and poCz-SO, with the same TADF emissive core and different dendrons. The influence of the peripheral dendrons on the photophysical properties and electroluminescent performances of the self-host materials were systematically investigated...

Novel hollow Ag/MnO2 nanostructures with controlled shell composition and structure were designed and synthesized. In the present synthetic procedure, Ag nanocrystals were oxidized by KMnO4 and MnO2 was heterogeneously formed on the surface of Ag nanocrystals, then the released Ag+ was photoreduced to Ag adjacent to manganese oxide. By simply changing the photoreduction moment, simultaneously with or after the addition of KMnO4, the hollow Ag/MnO2 structures with different shell architectures, monolayered shell composed of the evenly mixed Ag and MnO2 and the double layered shell composed of inner MnO2 layer and outer Ag layer, can be both obtained...

Poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PBLG-b-PEG) rod-coil block copolymers and poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG) homopolymers can cooperatively self-assemble into superhelical structures in aqueous solution. In this work, we discovered that helices can have multiple strands with tunable characteristics. The strand number was dependent on the initial polymer concentration of the self-assembly, the self-assembly temperature, and the weight fraction of the block copolymers in the mixture...

The invention of corner units was the key factor that allowed the synthesis of cyclo-para-phenylenes with strained curved π-systems. Despite only a few scarce instances of the development of corner units to date, a variety of structural congeners have been synthesized. These preceding corner units commonly possessed directing angles of ≤90°, which enabled the macrocyclization of multiple units, up to six. In this study, we introduce an obtuse-angled corner unit for the synthesis of cyclo-para-phenylene congeners...

A new series of acetylene-bridged phenothiazine-based dianchoring dyes have been synthesized and fully characterized, and used as the photoactive layer for the fabrication of conventional dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Tuning of their photophysical and electrochemical properties using different π-conjugated aromatic rings as the central bridge has been demonstrated. This molecular design strategy successfully inhibits the undesirable charge recombination and prolongs the electron lifetime significantly to improve the power conversion efficiency (η), which were proven by the detailed studies of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and open-circuit voltage decay (OCVD)...

Rotaxane and pseudorotaxane are two sorts of different mechanically interlocked molecular architectures, and there is obvious topological difference and boundary between them. In this work, a "suggested [2]rotaxane 1α-CD" was constructed based on an axle molecule 1 bearing two terminal ferrocene groups and a wheel component α-cyclodextrin (α-CD), but the result obtained indicated that the ferrocene group cannot prevent α-CD dethreading under UV irradiation. That is, 1α-CD is just a pseudo[2]rotaxane...

We report the construction of a non-toxic nanoassembly of BSA protein and cucurbit[7]uril macrocycle and its stimuli-responsive breakage with adamantylamine or pH, which restores the protein structure and recognition properties. The assembly showed efficient loading and controlled release of a standard drug, doxorubicin (DOX), and the same was validated in live cells. The cell viability studies documented that the DOX-loaded assembly mask the cytotoxicity of DOX drug and the toxicity can be revived at the target on demand, triggering its therapeutic activation...

In this work, a unique approach is developed to generate photoswitchable and watersoluble fluorescence nano-aggregates. Initially, a new light-controlled diarylethene-dansyl dyad DAEs 1 is formed by two dansyl fluorophores covalently linked to a symmetrical dithienylethene backbone, whose photophysical properties can be excellent reversibly switched by optical stimuli. Subsequently, the water-insolubility of molecular switch DAEs 1 is overcome by incorporating it into the bilayer of liposome DPPC (1,2-dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) in water...

Self-standing TiO2 nanotube layers in the form of membranes are fabricated by self-organizing anodization of Ti metal and a potential shock technique. The membranes were then decorated by sputtering different Pt amounts i) only at the top, ii) only at the bottom or iii) at both top and bottom of the tube layers. The Pt-decorated membranes are transferred either in tube top up or in tube top down configuration onto FTO slides and investigated after crystallization as photocatalysts for H2 generation using either front or back-side light irradiation...

Amongst the various porphyrinoids, octaphyrin has attracted significant attention owing to its diverse syntheses, conformations, and metal-ligation properties. Octaphyrin is a higher homologue of porphyrin and is formed by linking together heterocycles such as pyrrole, furan, thiophene, and selenophene through α-α or α-meso carbon bonds. The planar conformation is mainly achieved through inversion of the heterocyclic units from the center of macrocycle; avoiding meso-bridges; introducing a para-quinodimethane bridge; employing a neo-confusion approach; protonation; and by generating dianionic species...

Bilateral Symposium: The Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) hosted the 6th Sino-German Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium from August 29 to September 3, 2016. This event, co-organized by the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) and the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (German Chemical Society), featured excellent talks by the invited early-career chemists of both countries and offered ample opportunities for discussions and making friends among the participants.

Insertion of 3-hydroxypropanesulfonicacid (HPS) at graphene oxide (GO) interlayer results in high proton conductivity (10-2 - 10-1 Scm-1) due to the improvement in oxygen content, interlayer distance and water absorbing capacity. This result indicates that hydroxyalkylsulfonicacid can be a perfect guest molecules for improving the proton conductivity of carbon materials.